“Leif,” I said softly. “Stop making me sound so self-sacrificing.”
It was like he wasn’t listening to me. “You say that you were using me, but every touch you give me, every caress, is so full of love and caring. That’s not using someone.”
“I love you,” I said softly, pressing my face against his neck again. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, ‘Lina,” he murmured. “You’re the only reason I came back.”
And because we were back, things were miserable. “I don’t know what to do,” I told him. My hands smoothed up and down his back, enjoying the feel of his warm skin against mine. “I feel like if we stay, they’re going to do their best to make sure we’re as miserable as they are.”
“I don’t think you’re wrong about that.”
I knew I wasn’t. The clan elders loved control more than anything else. If they had to crush the life out of the rest of us to ensure that they kept that control? They’d do it. Even my own father didn’t have my back. He wouldn’t let me move out, and had even taken my truck from the airport, all because he wanted to keep me under his own control.
For the first time in my life, it made me angry.
I’d cheerfully gone along with it for so long, thinking that I was the problem, the unlovable one. All this time, they’d let me think that, because it kept me subdued and under their thumbs.
No longer.
“Sometimes I think Ramsey was the lucky one,” I told Leif. “At least he got away from their head games.”
“Do you think he’s lucky?” Leif asked. “He left you behind.”
Sweet man. I squeezed him in a hug, and nestled closer. I thought of Ramsey again, of the unhappy teenager he’d been. I wondered if he was as miserable now that he was part of the Paranormal Alliance in the south. Now that he had a little she-wolf for a mate. I’d tried to join the Alliance in the hopes that there would have been another were-bear out there that we hadn’t known about, but my father had found out that I’d contacted the Alliance and shut that avenue down.
He liked me being single and lonely, I realized. If I’d never gone into heat, he would have been fine with me being alone all my life. I frowned at the thought.
And then I sat up, thinking hard.
Leif’s bright blue gaze searched my face. “What is it?”
“If I leave, would you follow me? Even though it means leaving your family behind again?”
Leif’s smile was beautiful to see. “You’re the only reason I’m here. My family is with you. You, and whoever we have growing in here.” His hand brushed my stomach.
A burst of love shot through me, and I leaned forward and kissed Leif on the mouth, hard. “You’re wonderful, you know that?”
He grinned and kissed me again. “So what’s the plan, love?”
“I think we’ll pay Ramsey a visit.”
To say that my father wasn’t pleased by our decision was an understatement. Actually, my father wasn’t pleased with anything that involved me. He’d seen me come out of the woods, hand in hand with my mate, and had tried to send Leif away again.
We’d ignored him.
When his bluster didn’t work, he threatened to call Leif’s father, citing that Leif’s refusal to obey simply showed his mental illness and suggested that the elders wouldn’t look well upon this.
For the first time in my life, I realized it was an empty threat. I didn’t care what the elders thought of us. If they wanted to separate us, I wanted no part of being in the clan any longer.
So we ignored my father and went to my garage apartment to get my things and dress. My hands trembled as we did, but Leif’s strong presence at my side made things easier.
With Leif at my side, I could do anything.
I packed light - there wasn’t all that much I needed, really. My laptop for work, clothes to change into, and some personal toiletries. My phone. My savings account had been tapped out due to my Antarctic trip, but Leif told me he had an IRA he’d planned to use for college that had been accumulating money all this time. It would be more than enough to cover anything we needed when we got to our new home.
A new home. Strange, how invigorating and freeing that sounded.
Leif had one bag - a backpack - that was sitting on my front porch. He’d apparently come with intentions of not leaving my side again. I’d adored the sight of that, and kissed him long and hard out of pleasure.
God, I loved that man.
When my car was packed up with the last of my possessions, my father showed up again with Gunnar Ludvik in tow. “What do you think you’re doing, Niko?” Father asked in an angry voice as he saw the boxes in the back of my little sedan.
“I’m leaving with Leif,” I said.
“Leaving?” He sputtered. “Do you want to be exiled like this fool you mated?”
“Fool?” Gunnar asked, turning an angry face toward my father. “My son is not a fool. You brought me here to talk sense into the boy, not to insult him.”
“He is leading my sweet daughter to ruin!” My father roared.
“Am I?” Leif murmured at my side, amused. “Have I corrupted you?”
“Only the parts I wanted corrupted,” I told him with a cheeky grin. Now that we’d made our decision, I felt so light. So…free. So happy. Why couldn’t I see how the clan’s ridiculous rules was smothering me? Without them, the world seemed full of possibility once more.
“You cannot go,” my father demanded, charging forward. “Your elders forbid it.”
“And if we go,” Leif asked, coming to stand in front of me protectively when my father approached. “What will you do? Exile us?”
“This will be no turning back for you, son,” Gunnar said in a low, sad voice. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
Leif looked to me. I knew if I said the word, he’d stay…because he loved me. He’d be willing to put up with their bullshit all to make me happy. Such a wonderful man. I felt so lucky. So I simply smiled and nodded at him. He winked at me, then turned back to his father. “I’m sure.”
Gunnar drew his son in for a long hug, and murmured something in his ear. Then he clapped his back and released him. “If I cannot stop you, then so be it.”
Leif patted his father on the shoulder, and then stuck his hand out to my father to shake. “Mr. Aasen.”
My father glared at Leif, then looked at me again. “You’re making a mistake, Nikolina. You will be exiled—“
I ran forward and impulsively kissed my father on the cheek. “Bye, Daddy. Wish us luck.”
“Never!” His face was turning beet red. “You stop this right now! You—“
We ignored him and climbed into my car. The two elders stared at us as we backed out of the driveway and pulled onto one of the side roads that would lead to the highway…and eventually out of the Ozark Mountains.
Leif was watching me as I drove. His hand went to my thigh, a caress of support. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Actually, I am.” My father would be upset right now, but eventually he’d calm down enough to talk. And there were phones for those sorts of things. I felt free, and light…and happy. “It’s a long drive to Texas, though.”
“I’m glad I’ve got good company,” Leif told me.
I grinned, and headed down the road. “So what did your father say to you when he hugged you?”
“He said for me to get settled, and then to let him know where we were at, and he would join us. He’s tired of the games, too.”
I laughed out of pure joy.
When we pulled into the parking lot at Midnight Liaisons, it was pitch black outside. The strip mall storefront was lit up, and I knew they were open late hours. They had to be, considering some of the clients were nocturnal.